LONDON (April 4, 2006) â€“ SEGA Holdings Europe Ltd., today announced that the company has acquired the multi award-winning development studio, Sports Interactive. Founded in 1994 by Paul and Oliver Collyer and operating from offices in Islington, North London, the brothers are the talented creators behind the hugely successful Football Manager series - which with only two titles from the franchise released so far, has sold in excess of 1.5 million copies and became the second fastest selling PC game of all time in the UK.

The groundbreaking deal sees SEGA acquiring a company that has maintained the heritage and experience accumulated through many years of development, Sports Interactive have produced titles that have enjoyed an unparalleled history of commercial and critical success. SEGA will empower the team to continue on their existing development path whilst also expanding their resources for the future.

The worldâ€™s leading developer of Sports Management simulations joins recently acquired, The Creative Assembly to add to SEGAâ€™s list of undisputable development talent. This new deal continues to highlight SEGAâ€™s emphasis on western development and adds yet more weight to SEGAâ€™s own long-term strategic vision. SEGA will continue to support Sports Interactive to develop NHL: Eastside Hockey Manager, Out of the Park Baseball and the Football Manager series, as well as exploring ambitious new ventures.

â€œFootball Manager is an extremely successful brand for SEGA and one of the most significant titles for our European line-up,â€ commented Naoya Tsurumi â€“ CEO: SEGA Europe Ltd. & SEGA of America, Inc. â€œThis acquisition illustrates that we are achieving our objectives and have our strategic planning up and running. Although we still have a lot more to do, we feel that this is yet another huge step towards strengthening our standing within the European market.â€

â€œWe acquired Sports Interactive because SEGA has the utmost respect for the Collyerâ€™s, Miles Jacobson and the Sports Interactive team for what they have achieved. The company is built up of highly talented individuals that have and continue to produce award-winning titlesâ€, commented Mike Hayes, President & COO of SEGA Europe Ltd. â€œOur objective, as with The Creative Assembly, is to work with the team and build upon their successes as we strive to produce the highest quality games for our consumersâ€.

Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive adds, â€œFrom our first meeting with SEGA, it felt like â€œhomeâ€- they really understand development and itâ€™s an honour to get to work with the overwhelming pool of talent from both the development and publishing side. The partner was right for the next chapter in Sports Interactiveâ€™s history, with more releases from the studio this year than ever before. Myself, Ov, Paul and the SI team are all really excited about the future.â€

The first titles to be released under the new partnership will be Football Manager 2006 for Xbox 360â„¢ and Football Manager Handheld for the PSPâ„¢ portable entertainment system, both out for release on April 13th 2006.

About SEGAÂ® Europe Ltd.:
SEGA Europe Ltd. is the European Publishing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europeâ€™s web site is located at www.sega-europe.com

About SEGAÂ® Holdings Europe Ltd.:
SEGA Holdings Europe Ltd. is the holding company for the European arms of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. Subsidiaries of SEGA Holdings Europe include SEGA Europe Ltd.

About SEGAÂ® of America, Inc.:
SEGA of America, Inc. is the American Publishing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment. SEGA of Americaâ€™s web site is located at www.sega.com/usa

About Sports Interactive:
Sports Interactive (SI), is the worldâ€™s leading developer of sports management simulations for home computers. SIâ€™s pillar titles cover a range of sports, including football (the Football Manager series), ice hockey (the NHL: Eastside Hockey Manager series) and baseball (Out of the Park Baseball). Founded in 1994 and based in Islington, North London. The companyâ€™s games have enjoyed an unparalleled history of commercial and critical success, with five of its creations among the UK's Top 20 best-selling PC games of all time. In 2004 SI signed an exclusive five-year agreement with SEGA which will see all games it produces within that period published by the global computer and video games giant. Further information on the company and its games is available from the SI website, www.sigames.com.